Steps underway to popularise Pangaon container terminal

The Ministry of Shipping has decided to hold a meeting with the terminal users at Pangaon Container Terminal Bhaban in Keraniganj on Sunday

The government has taken steps to popularise Pangaon Inland Container Terminal in Keraniganj on the outskirt of Dhaka city so that importers and exporters increasingly use the water route between Dhaka and Chittagong Port for transporting goods.

“The importers and exporters face various hassles in carrying containers from Chittagong Seaport to Dhaka. Instead, if they use the Pangaon Container Terminal in carrying goods, it’ll be more cost effective,??? said deputy secretary of Chittagong Port Wahid Sikder to UNB.

The Ministry of Shipping has decided to hold a meeting with the terminal users at Pangaon Container Terminal Bhaban in Keraniganj on Sunday to find a way how the terminal could be popularised.

Leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), BGMEA, BKMEA, Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association and Bangladesh Container Shipping Association will also join the meeting, said public relations officer of the Shipping Ministry Jahangir Alam.

Wahid Sikder said the authorities concerned will take suggestions from the business leaders and then take initiatives to extend facilities for the terminal users so they increasingly use it.

In November 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Pangaon Inland Container Terminal on the bank of the Buriganga River at Pangaon in South Keraniganj.

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) jointly built the terminal spending Tk1.54bn.

The terminal is expected to play a vital role in the country’s economic development by ushering in a new horizon in the transportation of exported and imported goods through waterways.

The project aims to help ease the pressure of cargo movement on the Dhaka-Chittagong railway and highway corridors. The terminal will have a storage capacity of 3,500 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers and handle 116,000 TEU containers annually. The capacity will gradually be raised to 160,000 TEUs.